Unboxing, test and review: Jabra Evolve2 40 – USB-A MS Teams Stereo

It’s time to replace my cheap old headset after a client spoilt me with a Jabra set, but then took them back after the project…which is fair enough, I guess. Read on for my review, then watch my unboxing, test and review video at the bottom of this page.

So here’s my criteria for my new headset:

• On ear – I love full sized, over-ear headphones…but not while wearing glasses which I do for screen time
• Mute dongle – I need a physical button for going on/off mute. Ever been asked a question in a meeting but you can’t get off mute? How about when you’re training and need to cough or have a sip of water?  Both of these examples are much easier with a physical button
• Wired – I swap between two PC’s all day long. I just prefer being able to pull a USB cable out of one, and pop it in the other. Also, most of the Dalek-esque sounding people I hear on calls are using Bluetooth headsets
• Teams certified – I appreciate the little integrations like simply clicking the Teams button on the side to launch Teams
• Preferably Jabra – I have used then before and loved them, unless they give me reason to do so, I don’t plan to look elsewhere

After filtering by the above criteria and reading a few reviews I went for the Jabra Evolve2 40 – USB-A MS Teams Stereo headset.

Unboxing

When they arrived, I was impressed with the fairly minimal packaging and lack of plastic. Jabra are clearly making an environmental effort with their packaging:

The foam carry case is super snug and will take up hardly any room in a bag. In my video review I comment on the bits on the case, that was a bit harsh and I take it back; I would much prefer there be a few bits from the box on the case than have a plastic bag keeping it perfect.

To my horror there isn’t a dongle with the mute/unmute button which was a ‘must have’. How on earth did I miss that it didn’t come with one? Anyway, I have changed my mind on this too; the right earphone has a little mute button and the boom lifts up to mute (a little voice even tells you when you have gone on or off mute) and both work brilliantly…I would not swap this option for the dongle I was so keen to have.

Set up

Setup was super-easy; plug them in and Windows sets them as the default device. On launching Microsoft Teams I was greeted with this screen, which went on to highlight some of the features:

Those dedicated Teams features include:

• Automatic selection as the default audio device (they ‘just work’)
• A dedicated Microsoft Teams button (press the Teams button to action the thing it is telling you about) to:  
  • Notifications of Microsoft Teams LED flashes purple when
    • Microsoft Teams meeting ready to join
    • Microsoft Teams missed call
    • Microsoft Teams voicemails
  • Microsoft Teams LED flashes green with an incoming Microsoft Teams call
  • Invocations
    • Answering incoming Microsoft Teams calls
    • Opening the meeting “pre-join” screen (is there a meeting you should be joining? Just press the Teams button on the side and the pre-join screen pops up…brilliant feature!)
    • Open missed calls screen
    • Open Microsoft Teams voicemail screen
    • Bring up Microsoft Teams client from the background (another great little feature)
• Voice prompt when the user is wearing the headset

General use

General use is uneventful, as it should be. People can hear me clearly and I can hear them clearly. Even listening to music was pretty good once I had changed the pre-set to ‘bass’ and tweaked the graphic equaliser a bit (see the video for where you do this). Uneventful that is, except for the breathing sound IN THE CENTRE OF MY HEAD! Whenever the mic was turned on and I was breathing through my nose I could hear a loud, almost echo’ish version of that sound in my head…basically the mic was picking up my breathing and pumping it into my ears. I checked with colleagues and they could not hear any of my breathing during a conversation, but I could. Honestly, I was getting ready to send them back!

At 11.11 am I sent this support ticket to Jabra: “When the mic is on, I hear the sound of breathing through my nose in the head set (I of course have moved the mic passed my nose down to the normal position) clicking mute stops this. People on the call cannot hear me breathing. My old Jabras didn’t do this and neither do my client supplied headphones. It’s as if the sidetone is way too sensitive…can this be adjusted?”

Within just 90 minutes they came back with the solution along with this screenshot:

Wait, what? I don’t have those sidetone settings…ah, yes I do, but I missed them. Anyway, the sidetone level was pre-set too high, I tried a few settings and was torn between off and the minimum…I went for the minimum setting in the end and the problem is solved. Excellent service from Jabra.

Comfort

I have worn these for hours now over a couple of days and they were comfortable…eventually. If you buy a pair, have a good play with all the adjustments…check out the video for the options. The only issue I have is that the wire is a bit stiff, it still has all its kinks and holds it’s shape too much, creating a loop as it sticks out and comes back…you’ll have to watch the video to see what I mean.

Conclusion

There is something quietly competent about these headphones. Apart from the surprisingly useful Teams integration features, I don’t find myself inclined to shout about any part of them…they just do what they are meant to do very well.

If you want on-ear, wired headphones, these are well worth a look…despite my strop about no dongle, and another strop about the ‘noise in my head’, I am 100% keeping them and am very happy with my choice.

Update 24 March 2021

I really like these headphones, but I have returned them due to the cable. The kinks from how it was packaged never straightened out, which is irritating enough on its own, but it also caused the cable to tangle easily. Even worse was the tapping noise in my right ear, I eventually worked out that whenever I leant forward and the (too hard and plasticky) cable knocked my desk the sound travelled up the cable straight into my right ear.

I’m not giving up on Jabra or wires…look out for my review of the cheaper Jabra Evolves 20s which I have bought to replace these. As the 20s are quite a bit cheaper (this matters because I buy this stuff with my own money) than the Evolve2 40s, I’ll also try a wireless set for use on the other PC…I’m wondering if the Microsoft Xbox Wireless Headset is suitable for work calls. Look out for both reviews soon.

Research and Buying

Alternatives

I’ve only been researching Jabra, so that’s what I’ll comment on here. There are cheaper, more premium, wireless, in-ear and over-ear options available…pretty much whatever you want. Again, wherever you end up buying them from, Amazon is a great tool for research. Click on the below image for all of the headphones Amazon sells from the Jabra Evolve2 range:

Video review (26 minutes)